Alan Keating walked away with the biggest pot in High Stakes Poker history this week, collecting $1,412,500 in the calmest way imaginable. Most of us could not keep our cool with that much money on the line, but most of us aren’t Keating.
That $1.4 million is the largest pot seen or won in the 14-year history of the show. It’s also the first one over a million. The previous came up just shy of seven figures at $992,000. Incredibly, Keating’s win was a staggering 30% larger than that.
The poker hand between Peter Wang and Keating that produced that pot was a perfect example of how Texas Hold ‘Em can be one of the most exciting casino games available as a viewer or player.
Keating appeared laid back with a million on the line
As the hand began, Keating was still enjoying some side conversation about watches with Vinny Lingham across the table. Keating could not have been calmer as he showed off his De Bethune DB28, which was worth about the same as the pre-flop pot and just about 10% of the total winnings by the time the hand was all said and done.
After initial bets were placed, the pot reached $145,500 pre-flop after Keating three-bet the table. The flop was king-high with two spades which pushed both Keating and Peter Wang to play. Keating was sitting on a pair of kings – giving him three Kings – while Wang was aiming for a flush with two spades in his own hand, ace high.
Wang started with a check, but Keating kicked off the betting after the flop with $70,000 which was check raised by Wang to $200,000. Keating happily called with the better hand and suddenly the pot was growing rapidly.
The turn was another ace which pushed Wang to the brink. But with a chance at a flush draw with the high pair, he still had a chance and went all in. With a full house of Kings and Aces, Keating called without any hesitation.
Suddenly, that $145,500 pot ballooned to a historic $1,412,500. Before the river, both players agreed to run it twice. Wang was hoping for a spade to grab ahold of the win, but it never came. Keating narrowly escaped the flush and won both rivers leading to him becoming the winner of the biggest pot in the 14-year history of High Stakes Poker.
With that record-breaking win in hand, the only emotion that Keating let out was a quick wink to Wang and a smile. Funny enough, the iceberg blue color of Keating’s De Bethune was the perfect match for his absurdly ice cold demeanor.
Not the first duel between Wang and Keating
All throughout Season 14 of High Stakes Poker, there have been some epic battles between Wang and Keating.
Keating first bluffed his way to a $287,000 pot, but that was just the start. A couple episodes later, Keating managed to grab a $911,000 pot from Wang which was nearing the largest in High Stakes Poker history and the largest of the season so far.
Now with the little over $1.4 million pot also added to the list of losses, Wang must be having nightmares about sitting at the same table as Keating. The two of them have fought for the two largest pots of the season and both times, Wang found himself on the losing end.
